Features
Mahaweli Project – North Central Province canal: A tunnel in the wilderness?
by Eng. L.V. Talagala
C Eng., B Sc. Eng (Cey), M Sc (Southampton), MIE. MASCE
former Director (System B&C), Mahaweli Engineering and Construction Agency of Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka.
The Mahaweli Multi-Purpose Development Project is based on the Master Plan for maximum utilisation of water resources of the Mahaweli Ganga, prepared in 1965/68. The plan envisages development of 360,000 ha of irrigable land, mainly in the dry Zone in Mahaweli and adjoining river basins designated as Systems A to M, as well as 900 MW of Hydropower. The works involve the construction of several Dams and river diversion structures, together with a network of tunnels and canals.
During the 1970-77 period the Polgolla and Bowatenna river diversion works with power stations, improvements to Kalawewa, together with some land development works in the Kala Oya basin, feeder canal to Huruluwewa, and widening of Elahera Minneriya Yoda Ela were completed. Since 1977, under the Accelerated Mahaweli Development Programme, five major projects Viz, Kotmale, Victoria, Randenigala, Rantembe and Maduru Oya Dams and Hydropower plants with the total potential of around 600 MW , downstream development of about 112,000 ha in Systems B, C, H and G, and settlement of around 100,000 farmer families were carried out. A total of around Rs,1000 m (approx. 900 m US$) has been invested and direct benefits were accrued through hydropower and agricultural production. The completed projects continue to make a significant contribution to the national economy.
The current development works commenced in 2007, after Feasibility and Environmental studies, with the construction of the Moragahakanda and Kaluganga reservoirs in the Ambanganga basin. These were completed in 2018 and 2022 respectively, at a cost of over 400 m US$, and are linked together by short canals and tunnels. The combined storage capacity is around 700 million cubic meters(mcm), which is more than the capacity of Minneriya, Parakrama Samudra, Kaudulla and Kantalai tanks together.
The water stored in these reservoirs have to be conveyed to the designated areas in the North Central and Northern Provinces for agriculture. The conveyance waterway, from Moragahakanda, is called the North Central Province Canal (Ref. Fig 1). The first 20 km of the waterway runs parallel to the existing Elahera Minneriya Yoda Ela (EMYE) on a higher elevation contour and gradually turns in a Northerly direction along the centre spinal ridge that divides the river basins flowing to the west and eastern coasts of the island to end at Chennadikulam tank. This would be the most expensive and the longest (155 km approx.) waterway in Sri Lanka.
The construction work is undertaken under the North Central Province Canal Project (NCPCP) in two stages and implemented by the Mahaweli Water Security Investment Project (MWSIP) under the Ministry of Irrigation with ADB funding. A sum of around 600 m US$ is committed for the next few years for the construction of NCPCP Stage 1 works and is expected to be completed in 2026. The work involved for Stage 2 is yet to be finalized and would cost over 500 m US$. Additional costs will be incurred for Downstream Development works including the provision of irrigation facilities for the agricultural lands. (See Fig 1 and Fig 2)
North Central Province Canal Project (NCPCP) – Stage 1
(also referred to as Upper Elahera Canal (UEC) (Ref. Fig 2)
The NCPCP Stage 1 works involve
the construction of the first 65 km, of the conveyance waterway of capacity 40 m3/s, with 27 km long Tunnel and the upstream and downstream canal sections, for conveyance of water from Moragahakanda reservoir to a Trifurcation structure at Yakalla close to Huruluwewa. From this Trifurcation structure three branch canals will take off. One feeding Manankattiya, Eruwewa and Mahakanadarawa tanks in the Anuradhapura district. The second to Huruluwewa tank and the third branch will be an extension of UEC (NCPCP Stage 2), a further around 90 km up to Chennadikulam around Vavuniya, to feed new and existing tanks for development of mainly new lands. It is expected to convey around 500 mcm of water after Stage 1 and a further 500 mcm after Stage 2, a total of around 1000 mcm at final completion. Accordingly, only around 50 %of the tunnel capacity will be utilized on completion of Stage 1.
The canal sections should be completed at the time when the Tunnel, which is progressing satisfactorily with 2 Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM), is completed in 2026 to convey water to the expected destinations. The water conveyed at such high cost, is so precious, like gold, at this point and each cubic metre should be used wisely to obtain the best economic returns as soon as it is available.
Water Availability – Stage 1
Moragahakanda Reservoir of storage capacity of around 550 mcm is the focal point for water distribution of the system. It receives water from its own catchment through Ambanganga, Mahaweli water from Polgolla through Bowatenna and from the Kaluganga reservoir through the Link canal. After meeting the present commitments to the Elahera Anicut and additional requirements to meet. deficits in the tanks fed by the Elahera Anicut, the water availability for diversion through Stage 1 works at the Trifurcation structure at Yakalla is estimated at around 450 mcm. This is a very large quantity equivalent to about the combined storage capacity of four major irrigation tanks, viz Minneriya, Kaudulla, Parakrama Samudraya and Kantale.
From the Trifurcation at Yakalla, around 110 mcm will be diverted through branch canals, to the designated existing tanks in the Anuradhapura district to meet the irrigation deficits and water supply requirements. Accordingly, around 450-110 = 340 mcm of water is available for development of new lands for irrigated agriculture through the extension of the UEC.
Downstream Development
Downstream Development is the term used for the land development and provision of irrigation facilities for agriculture together with the social and other facilities for maximum production. Getting carried away with large dams, vast expanses of water, long tunnels, with sophisticated tunnelling equipment, and other heavy engineering works and to forget the downstream development activities has to be resisted.
With possible savings in water use, there would be at least around 350 mcm, equivalent to about the combined capacity of Minneriya, Kaudulla and Kantale tanks, for the development of at least 15,000 ha (40,000 ac) at a water usage duty of 2m. The area can be increased with time with efficient water management practices.
Sri Lanka is now nearly self-sufficient in rice and further investment to increase extent under Paddy cultivation is not needed. What is necessary is to enhance paddy yields to feed the increasing population. It is now essential to cultivate other crops for import substitution, for exports and to create allied economic activities in the newly developed lands. Hence all efforts need to be directed for modernized intensive irrigated agriculture as the President emphasizes in most of his speeches and discussions with relevant officials. Engagement of the Private Sector in this effort may be useful with suitable government administrative mechanisms to realize the desired objective.
A complex set of activities will be involved in the Planning and Construction of downstream development works with relevant items for consideration are identified below.
* Identification of probable land considering proximity to conveyance system, ownership, resettlement issues, etc.
* Suitability for agriculture, soil types etc.
* Selection of crops (cash crops, sugar cane, fruit, vegetables, horticulture, and other high value crops), Cropping Calendar, etc. Paddy under flood irrigation should not be encouraged except in existing small tank cascades.
* Settlement planning activities, selection of suitable farmers etc.
* The present system of allocation of 1 ha to each farmer has led to subsistence farming, with many continuing to be below the poverty line, and sustainable intensive irrigated agriculture envisaged would not materialize. New workable model to be worked out (E.g. Cooperative societies made up of individual farmers to run a large extent, Management by private companies with emphasis on the commercial aspect, Mechanization, etc.). Private investment in on-farm development including modern irrigation methods (furrow, sprinkler, drip irrigation, harnessing groundwater, etc.) to be encouraged.
* Farmer organizations should be more involved in equitable water distribution, facilitate agricultural services to farmers, marketing aspects, etc., and less on political activities.
* Design and Construction of irrigation facilities to suit cropping systems and farming models. Designs to incorporate measures for reduction of seepage losses, canal controls, night storage, reuse systems, demand water issues, conjunctive water use and other state of the art systems. Extension of UEC may be needed, if so design to required capacity with provision for future expansion
* Environmental, Wildlife and forest conservation.
* Provision of social infrastructure facilities.
* Marketing and Storage facilities. This aspect is very important as previous attempts for crop diversification failed manly due to lack of proper storage and marketing facilities
* Packaging, Processing and Agroindustry.
* On-farm Water Management and O&M
* Other related activities
All these activities should be in place with related infrastructure to utilize this golden resource, probably by the end of 2026. Completion of all Stage 1 construction works; downstream infrastructure works and development activities should be taken up immediately as a priority. If all activities are not properly planned and implemented the huge investment made would lie idle without yielding any return and only add to the debt burden.
North Central Province Canal Project (NCPCP) – Stage 2
The Stage 1 conveyance system (UEC) has been designed for 40 m3/s discharge capacity and expected to convey around 1000 mcm annually, on the basis that an additional 500 mcm is diverted from Randenigala and tapping water resources in Hasalaka and Heenganga tributaries on the eastern slope of the Knuckles range on-route to Kalu ganga during Stage 2 works.
Water Availability
At planning stage, it is intended to transfer around 500 mcm of water from Randenigala reservoir to Kaluganga and then to Moragahakanda reservoir through a system of Canals, Tunnels and Dams (Total length of around 40 km) This configuration would cause a huge loss (almost 25%) of peak power at existing power stations of Randenigala and Rantembe, which is not acceptable. In addition, there will be a reduction of water issues for irrigation from Minipe Anicut into systems B, C and E. Therefore, alternative conveyance routes and water sources have to be identified for conveyance of more water, around 500 mcm, through NCPCP Stage 2 works into Moragahakanda Reservoir.
An alternative conveyance route (Ref. Fig 3) is to let all water pass through power stations at Randenigala and Rantembe up to the Minipe Anicut, as at present, and then to divert the excess, through LB canal up to Existing Hasalaka reservoir. From here water to be pumped, may be in 2 Stages as a high lift will be involved, to the new upper Hasalaka Reservoir on the planned Randenigala Kaluganga route and then to follow the planned route through Heenganga into the Kaluganga reservoir.
The advantages of this alternative are that,
(i) there will be no reduction in power at existing Power stations at Randenigala and Rantembe,
(ii) not necessary to hold Randenigala (FSL 232) at high water level to allow gravity flow into Kaluganga (FSL 210). avoid expensive Tunnel (20 km) and inlet, outlet structures from Randenigala to Upper Hasalaka Oya lying through environmentally sensitive forest land in the Knuckles range and also avoid difficult operational conditions.
(iii) the possibility of incorporating Pump storage systems to generate Hydropower with the Pumping stations on the Reservoir cascade, of Upper, Intermediate and existing, dams on Hasalaka Oya.
(iv) no reduction of irrigation issues and curtailment of future developments in System B.
(v) less expensive than the proposed configuration.
The disadvantages are that
(i) power requirement for Pump stations at Hasalaka Reservoirs and associated operating costs. This can be overcome as Pump stations can operate at non peak hours with pump storage systems, and solar power can also be used for pumping.
(ii) the existing Minipe canal would have to carry the increased discharge. Whether the present canal can carry the additional discharge needs to be studied. If not, widening may be necessary mainly in the cut sections and probably modification of some structures. All depends on the water availability and at what time.
Another option, as suggested in previous studies, is to pump the drainage water in Mahaweli at Kalinga Nuwara to a new reservoir at Angamedilla and then to pump into Minneriya. This amount of water can be reduced from Moragahakanda issues to Elahera and transferred through the NCPCP.
A combination of both options may be necessary to meet the full requirement of the NCPCP, and need to be decided after further studies
Downstream Development
Together with the works of the extension of the NCPCP from Yakalla Trifurcation Northwards to the Chennadikulam a distance of around 90 km and the associated downstream development of the new lands needs to be undertaken. A large extent of new lands in systems J, K, L and M are available for development. It will be necessary to improve the existing tanks and construct new reservoirs to utilize the runoff in the basins during the rainy season and use the water from NCPCP to supplement the available water resources. (See Fig. 3)
4. Conclusions
While retaining the present emphasis on completing the infrastructure of NCPCP Stage 1 by 2026, with ADB funding it is necessary to focus on the downstream development works and activities to realize benefits as early as possible.
The water balance studies need to be updated with operational data from the new reservoirs and with pragmatic assumptions before commencement of NCPCP Stage 2 works to ensure that the new infrastructure built is not over designed.
The investment is too large for decision making on water resources allocations, when and where to invest to be left to an implementation agency, funding agency and consultancy firms. Establishment of a high-level steering committee with advice from multidisciplinary technical experts for directing and monitoring all activities is suggested.
Note
All analyses are based on the experience and studies made by the author with data and information from EIA report (MCB, Jun 2014, Updated Master Plan Study (SMEC 2016), MASL and ID websites and other sources.
by Dr Gotabhya Ranasinghe
Senior Consultant Cardiologist
National Hospital Sri Lanka
When we sought a meeting with Hon Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, Minister of Health, he graciously cleared his busy schedule to accommodate us. Renowned for his attentive listening and deep understanding, Minister Pathirana is dedicated to advancing the health sector. His openness and transparency exemplify the qualities of an exemplary politician and minister.
Dr. Palitha Mahipala, the current Health Secretary, demonstrates both commendable enthusiasm and unwavering support. This combination of attributes makes him a highly compatible colleague for the esteemed Minister of Health.
Our discussion centered on a project that has been in the works for the past 30 years, one that no other minister had managed to advance.
Minister Pathirana, however, recognized the project’s significance and its potential to revolutionize care for heart patients.
The project involves the construction of a state-of-the-art facility at the premises of the National Hospital Colombo. The project’s location within the premises of the National Hospital underscores its importance and relevance to the healthcare infrastructure of the nation.
This facility will include a cardiology building and a tertiary care center, equipped with the latest technology to handle and treat all types of heart-related conditions and surgeries.
Securing funding was a major milestone for this initiative. Minister Pathirana successfully obtained approval for a $40 billion loan from the Asian Development Bank. With the funding in place, the foundation stone is scheduled to be laid in September this year, and construction will begin in January 2025.
This project guarantees a consistent and uninterrupted supply of stents and related medications for heart patients. As a result, patients will have timely access to essential medical supplies during their treatment and recovery. By securing these critical resources, the project aims to enhance patient outcomes, minimize treatment delays, and maintain the highest standards of cardiac care.
Upon its fruition, this monumental building will serve as a beacon of hope and healing, symbolizing the unwavering dedication to improving patient outcomes and fostering a healthier society.We anticipate a future marked by significant progress and positive outcomes in Sri Lanka’s cardiovascular treatment landscape within the foreseeable timeframe.
by Fr. Emmanuel Fernando, OMI
Jesuit Fr. Aloysius Pieris (affectionately called Fr. Aloy) celebrated his 90th birthday on April 9, 2024 and I, as the editor of our Oblate Journal, THE MISSIONARY OBLATE had gone to press by that time. Immediately I decided to publish an article, appreciating the untiring selfless services he continues to offer for inter-Faith dialogue, the renewal of the Catholic Church, his concern for the poor and the suffering Sri Lankan masses and to me, the present writer.
It was in 1988, when I was appointed Director of the Oblate Scholastics at Ampitiya by the then Oblate Provincial Fr. Anselm Silva, that I came to know Fr. Aloy more closely. Knowing well his expertise in matters spiritual, theological, Indological and pastoral, and with the collaborative spirit of my companion-formators, our Oblate Scholastics were sent to Tulana, the Research and Encounter Centre, Kelaniya, of which he is the Founder-Director, for ‘exposure-programmes’ on matters spiritual, biblical, theological and pastoral. Some of these dimensions according to my view and that of my companion-formators, were not available at the National Seminary, Ampitiya.
Ever since that time, our Oblate formators/ accompaniers at the Oblate Scholasticate, Ampitiya , have continued to send our Oblate Scholastics to Tulana Centre for deepening their insights and convictions regarding matters needed to serve the people in today’s context. Fr. Aloy also had tried very enthusiastically with the Oblate team headed by Frs. Oswald Firth and Clement Waidyasekara to begin a Theologate, directed by the Religious Congregations in Sri Lanka, for the contextual formation/ accompaniment of their members. It should very well be a desired goal of the Leaders / Provincials of the Religious Congregations.
Besides being a formator/accompanier at the Oblate Scholasticate, I was entrusted also with the task of editing and publishing our Oblate journal, ‘The Missionary Oblate’. To maintain the quality of the journal I continue to depend on Fr. Aloy for his thought-provoking and stimulating articles on Biblical Spirituality, Biblical Theology and Ecclesiology. I am very grateful to him for his generous assistance. Of late, his writings on renewal of the Church, initiated by Pope St. John XX111 and continued by Pope Francis through the Synodal path, published in our Oblate journal, enable our readers to focus their attention also on the needed renewal in the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka. Fr. Aloy appreciated very much the Synodal path adopted by the Jesuit Pope Francis for the renewal of the Church, rooted very much on prayerful discernment. In my Religious and presbyteral life, Fr.Aloy continues to be my spiritual animator / guide and ongoing formator / acccompanier.
Fr. Aloysius Pieris, BA Hons (Lond), LPh (SHC, India), STL (PFT, Naples), PhD (SLU/VC), ThD (Tilburg), D.Ltt (KU), has been one of the eminent Asian theologians well recognized internationally and one who has lectured and held visiting chairs in many universities both in the West and in the East. Many members of Religious Congregations from Asian countries have benefited from his lectures and guidance in the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) in Manila, Philippines. He had been a Theologian consulted by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences for many years. During his professorship at the Gregorian University in Rome, he was called to be a member of a special group of advisers on other religions consulted by Pope Paul VI.
Fr. Aloy is the author of more than 30 books and well over 500 Research Papers. Some of his books and articles have been translated and published in several countries. Among those books, one can find the following: 1) The Genesis of an Asian Theology of Liberation (An Autobiographical Excursus on the Art of Theologising in Asia, 2) An Asian Theology of Liberation, 3) Providential Timeliness of Vatican 11 (a long-overdue halt to a scandalous millennium, 4) Give Vatican 11 a chance, 5) Leadership in the Church, 6) Relishing our faith in working for justice (Themes for study and discussion), 7) A Message meant mainly, not exclusively for Jesuits (Background information necessary for helping Francis renew the Church), 8) Lent in Lanka (Reflections and Resolutions, 9) Love meets wisdom (A Christian Experience of Buddhism, 10) Fire and Water 11) God’s Reign for God’s poor, 12) Our Unhiddden Agenda (How we Jesuits work, pray and form our men). He is also the Editor of two journals, Vagdevi, Journal of Religious Reflection and Dialogue, New Series.
Fr. Aloy has a BA in Pali and Sanskrit from the University of London and a Ph.D in Buddhist Philosophy from the University of Sri Lankan, Vidyodaya Campus. On Nov. 23, 2019, he was awarded the prestigious honorary Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt) by the Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, the Most Venerable Welamitiyawe Dharmakirthi Sri Kusala Dhamma Thera.
Fr. Aloy continues to be a promoter of Gospel values and virtues. Justice as a constitutive dimension of love and social concern for the downtrodden masses are very much noted in his life and work. He had very much appreciated the commitment of the late Fr. Joseph (Joe) Fernando, the National Director of the Social and Economic Centre (SEDEC) for the poor.
In Sri Lanka, a few religious Congregations – the Good Shepherd Sisters, the Christian Brothers, the Marist Brothers and the Oblates – have invited him to animate their members especially during their Provincial Congresses, Chapters and International Conferences. The mainline Christian Churches also have sought his advice and followed his seminars. I, for one, regret very much, that the Sri Lankan authorities of the Catholic Church –today’s Hierarchy—- have not sought Fr.
Aloy’s expertise for the renewal of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka and thus have not benefited from the immense store of wisdom and insight that he can offer to our local Church while the Sri Lankan bishops who governed the Catholic church in the immediate aftermath of the Second Vatican Council (Edmund Fernando OMI, Anthony de Saram, Leo Nanayakkara OSB, Frank Marcus Fernando, Paul Perera,) visited him and consulted him on many matters. Among the Tamil Bishops, Bishop Rayappu Joseph was keeping close contact with him and Bishop J. Deogupillai hosted him and his team visiting him after the horrible Black July massacre of Tamils.
Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement
By Gomi Senadhira
senadhiragomi@gmail.com
“You might tell fairy tales, but the progress of a country cannot be achieved through such narratives. A country cannot be developed by making false promises. The country moved backward because of the electoral promises made by political parties throughout time. We have witnessed that the ultimate result of this is the country becoming bankrupt. Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet.” – President Ranil Wickremesinghe, 2024 Budget speech
Any Sri Lankan would agree with the above words of President Wickremesinghe on the false promises our politicians and officials make and the fairy tales they narrate which bankrupted this country. So, to understand this, let’s look at one such fairy tale with lots of false promises; Ranil Wickremesinghe’s greatest achievement in the area of international trade and investment promotion during the Yahapalana period, Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA).
It is appropriate and timely to do it now as Finance Minister Wickremesinghe has just presented to parliament a bill on the National Policy on Economic Transformation which includes the establishment of an Office for International Trade and the Sri Lanka Institute of Economics and International Trade.
Was SLSFTA a “Cleverly negotiated Free Trade Agreement” as stated by the (former) Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate on the SLSFTA in July 2018, or a colossal blunder covered up with lies, false promises, and fairy tales? After SLSFTA was signed there were a number of fairy tales published on this agreement by the Ministry of Development Strategies and International, Institute of Policy Studies, and others.
However, for this article, I would like to limit my comments to the speech by Minister Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate, and the two most important areas in the agreement which were covered up with lies, fairy tales, and false promises, namely: revenue loss for Sri Lanka and Investment from Singapore. On the other important area, “Waste products dumping” I do not want to comment here as I have written extensively on the issue.
1. The revenue loss
During the Parliamentary Debate in July 2018, Minister Samarawickrama stated “…. let me reiterate that this FTA with Singapore has been very cleverly negotiated by us…. The liberalisation programme under this FTA has been carefully designed to have the least impact on domestic industry and revenue collection. We have included all revenue sensitive items in the negative list of items which will not be subject to removal of tariff. Therefore, 97.8% revenue from Customs duty is protected. Our tariff liberalisation will take place over a period of 12-15 years! In fact, the revenue earned through tariffs on goods imported from Singapore last year was Rs. 35 billion.
The revenue loss for over the next 15 years due to the FTA is only Rs. 733 million– which when annualised, on average, is just Rs. 51 million. That is just 0.14% per year! So anyone who claims the Singapore FTA causes revenue loss to the Government cannot do basic arithmetic! Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I call on my fellow members of this House – don’t mislead the public with baseless criticism that is not grounded in facts. Don’t look at petty politics and use these issues for your own political survival.”
I was surprised to read the minister’s speech because an article published in January 2018 in “The Straits Times“, based on information released by the Singaporean Negotiators stated, “…. With the FTA, tariff savings for Singapore exports are estimated to hit $10 million annually“.
As the annual tariff savings (that is the revenue loss for Sri Lanka) calculated by the Singaporean Negotiators, Singaporean $ 10 million (Sri Lankan rupees 1,200 million in 2018) was way above the rupees’ 733 million revenue loss for 15 years estimated by the Sri Lankan negotiators, it was clear to any observer that one of the parties to the agreement had not done the basic arithmetic!
Six years later, according to a report published by “The Morning” newspaper, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) on 7th May 2024, Mr Samarawickrama’s chief trade negotiator K.J. Weerasinghehad had admitted “…. that forecasted revenue loss for the Government of Sri Lanka through the Singapore FTA is Rs. 450 million in 2023 and Rs. 1.3 billion in 2024.”
If these numbers are correct, as tariff liberalisation under the SLSFTA has just started, we will pass Rs 2 billion very soon. Then, the question is how Sri Lanka’s trade negotiators made such a colossal blunder. Didn’t they do their basic arithmetic? If they didn’t know how to do basic arithmetic they should have at least done their basic readings. For example, the headline of the article published in The Straits Times in January 2018 was “Singapore, Sri Lanka sign FTA, annual savings of $10m expected”.
Anyway, as Sri Lanka’s chief negotiator reiterated at the COPF meeting that “…. since 99% of the tariffs in Singapore have zero rates of duty, Sri Lanka has agreed on 80% tariff liberalisation over a period of 15 years while expecting Singapore investments to address the imbalance in trade,” let’s turn towards investment.
Investment from Singapore
In July 2018, speaking during the Parliamentary Debate on the FTA this is what Minister Malik Samarawickrama stated on investment from Singapore, “Already, thanks to this FTA, in just the past two-and-a-half months since the agreement came into effect we have received a proposal from Singapore for investment amounting to $ 14.8 billion in an oil refinery for export of petroleum products. In addition, we have proposals for a steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million), sugar refinery ($ 200 million). This adds up to more than $ 16.05 billion in the pipeline on these projects alone.
And all of these projects will create thousands of more jobs for our people. In principle approval has already been granted by the BOI and the investors are awaiting the release of land the environmental approvals to commence the project.
I request the Opposition and those with vested interests to change their narrow-minded thinking and join us to develop our country. We must always look at what is best for the whole community, not just the few who may oppose. We owe it to our people to courageously take decisions that will change their lives for the better.”
According to the media report I quoted earlier, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) Chief Negotiator Weerasinghe has admitted that Sri Lanka was not happy with overall Singapore investments that have come in the past few years in return for the trade liberalisation under the Singapore-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement. He has added that between 2021 and 2023 the total investment from Singapore had been around $162 million!
What happened to those projects worth $16 billion negotiated, thanks to the SLSFTA, in just the two-and-a-half months after the agreement came into effect and approved by the BOI? I do not know about the steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million) and sugar refinery ($ 200 million).
However, story of the multibillion-dollar investment in the Petroleum Refinery unfolded in a manner that would qualify it as the best fairy tale with false promises presented by our politicians and the officials, prior to 2019 elections.
Though many Sri Lankans got to know, through the media which repeatedly highlighted a plethora of issues surrounding the project and the questionable credentials of the Singaporean investor, the construction work on the Mirrijiwela Oil Refinery along with the cement factory began on the24th of March 2019 with a bang and Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his ministers along with the foreign and local dignitaries laid the foundation stones.
That was few months before the 2019 Presidential elections. Inaugurating the construction work Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the projects will create thousands of job opportunities in the area and surrounding districts.
The oil refinery, which was to be built over 200 acres of land, with the capacity to refine 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day, was to generate US$7 billion of exports and create 1,500 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs. The construction of the refinery was to be completed in 44 months. Four years later, in August 2023 the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to cancel the agreement with the investors of the refinery as the project has not been implemented! Can they explain to the country how much money was wasted to produce that fairy tale?
It is obvious that the President, ministers, and officials had made huge blunders and had deliberately misled the public and the parliament on the revenue loss and potential investment from SLSFTA with fairy tales and false promises.
As the president himself said, a country cannot be developed by making false promises or with fairy tales and these false promises and fairy tales had bankrupted the country. “Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet”.
(The writer, a specialist and an activist on trade and development issues . )
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